A
graduate with merit in visual communications from the French School of Technical
Education, he has a CAP (Certificat d’Aptitude Professionnelle) in photography
with an option in Laboratory. He spent three years as assistant to the renowned
photographer Olivier Paris, a specialist in shots of jewellery and top brand
cars.

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Since
1985 he has taken portraits of his idols, namely Art Blakey, Woody Shaw, Curtis
Fuller, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard… His work based on Jazz and its
artists has continued ever since.

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In
1989, he opened his studio in the Rue de la Jonquière in Paris where he has not
only welcomed jazzmen but also great French classical soloists.

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Alongside
his art photography work, cinema directors Gérard Krawczyk, Luc Besson,
Catherine Breillat, Bernard Stora, Richard Berry… have called on him as set
photographer for his aestheticism, precision and discretion.

In
June 2001, he opened his gallery in Rue Leneveux in Paris, where his work on
Nature and Jazz are permanently exhibited.

Today
he brings the art of photography to that of Jazz, with portraits of the artists
that symbolize this music. Via the spectacular black and white prints that he
develops himself, Philippe Lévy-Stab expresses his admiration, his passion and
his talent.

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His
photographs may be found in the permanent collections of the most prestigious
international museums and photographic institutions.

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.

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.

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James
Brown. Paris, 2002.

20
x 24" / 50 x 60 cm

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.

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Could
the inventors of photography, Niepce and Daguerre, ever have imagined that their
successors, photographers, would over time not only perfection the processes of
reproducing objects and people, but in some way sign their work with such strong
characteristic styles that, in a given context, the photograph suggests as
clearly the name of the photographer… as that of the person photographed.

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For
a connoisseur, a photo by Leloir, Bibbs, Herman Leonard, is as unmistakably
signed as might be a solo by Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins
or Lester Young…

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A
young photographer, Philippe Lévy-Stab, is the worthy disciple of those named
above. His photos carry his signature as plainly as his subject is designated.

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They
will all grab your attention, but a long time hence, the images that Philippe Lévy-Stab
conjured up one fine day of Ernie Barnes, Jon Faddis, Tom Harrel, Bobby
Hutcherson, Harold Mabern… will remain in your memory and your imagination.

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Maurice
CULLAZ

(1912-2000)

Journalist,
Producer for Radio France,

Co-founder
in 1935 of the magazine Jazz Hot,

President
of the "Académie du Jazz"

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“Nothing
is too good for Maurice… he fought for us when it wasn’t the trend” James
Brown.

Music
lovers love to listen to Jazz, true connoisseurs love to hear the Jazz… But if
vision takes the place of hearing, could our eyes ‘look at’ Jazz? Music is
virtual, the vibration of air. How can it be visualised? What is the image of
music?

Philippe
Lévy-Stab brings us his answer to this question, the answer of a photographer;
the artists that have given their bodies and souls to Jazz are those that best
symbolize this music.

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There
is no need to sing the praises of Philippe Lévy-Stab’s technical skill here,
nor of his perfect control of light and his unique shots that
are a veritable photographical feat. On the other hand, I feel the need to say
how the emotion and strength of his work as a portrait artist come from his love
of music and his admiration for musicians. With this passion and complicity he
captures these intense moments of movement and expression.

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Herman
Léonard shows musicians in touch with their audience and surroundings. Philippe
Lévy-Stab brings us to an intimate tête-à-tête with the artist, far from the
swarming crowds of the heaving clubs… Just the jazzman, his music and me.

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Pierre
Bourdieu put forward the idea that photography serves to fill the emptiness in
man’s memories and experiences. That of Philippe Lévy-Stab is plentiful in
itself, its image creating the most precious of memories and its spectacle the
most memorable of experiences.